Effect of Hayani Date (Phoenix dactylifera L) Peels on Blood Sugar, Blood Lipids, Liver and Kidney Functions, and Inflammation in Diabetic Rats

This study aimed to investigate the effect of Hayani date peel powder and its methanolic extract on glycemia and lipidemia in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats as well as their effects on kidney and liver functions in addition to their anti-inflammatory activity. Twenty-four rats were used in this study, six of them served as normal control (group 1) which continued feeding on the basal diet, while the remaining 18 rats were injected with streptozotocin (50mg/kg) to induce diabetes. The diabetic rats were divided into three groups (6 rats each), one of them feeding on the basal diet only which acted as diabetic control (group 2), another group fed on the basal diet and treated orally with the peel extract in a concentration of 250 mg/kg body weight (group 3), while the third group was treated with peel powder merged in the basal diet with a concentration of 5% w/w (group 4).  The results showed that the extract and the powder of the peels significantly decreased the blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin (HbAlc), total cholesterol (TC), total triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-c), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), creatinine, and uric acid as well as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), prostaglandin 2 (PGE2), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 1B (IL-1β), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) levels. In contrast, significant increases in serum insulin, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), and albumin were noticed in comparison to diabetic control. Generally, the peel extract was more effective than the peel powder. It is recommended by eating the whole fruit of date without peeling.